Last Updated on November 25, 2021 by
OTA is an acronym in the NFL that stands for Organized Team Activities. Based on the agreement made by every team, each team on the NFL is made to have a specific number of OTAs in the offseason. The offseason is majorly a time when the trams have no games scheduled for the tournament.
The OTAs organized by the teams are mainly optional and no team is allowed to penalize a player that misses a day of the OTA. There is always a loophole for activities like this but when a team is allowed to pick out players that would play on the team match, the players have to attend because 95% of the time, the players that get involved with the OTA are the ones that the teams pick. OTAs generally take up to 9 weeks, this doesn’t mean that you have to be there for the whole seven days a week. Most teams start this activity during the last days of April and end most times in June. The OTA calendar is made up of three phases.
Phase 1: For the first two weeks of the OTA window is just about strength and conditioning. Mostly the weight room activities and some runs, are what makeup phase 1. Players who have injuries were also given instructions to do some of the activities that they could pull off so that their progress can be viewed. For instance, players who have their arms or hands injured would be trained to throw with their injured arm so that their growth can be monitored. Although they wouldn’t be given the liberty to run routes.
Phase 2: During the first three to five weeks, teams are given the chance to do anything related to football, although they wouldn’t be allowed to play on defense and offense sides. What this means is that the offense can go through the playbook and do the routes and things like that. The offense side cannot line up against the defense.
Phase 3: During the last four weeks comes phase 3 where the teams are given the liberty to slate at least 10 days of practice without contact. This is a situation where the offense and defense are allowed to line up and face each other head-on without tackling and using full speed. Blocking is also not allowed during this period. Offensive and defensive linemen can make contacts but they would have to do this with a very low speed. The defensive backs are aplo2ed to run the normal routes and make defensive moves, same as the receivers. They do this without hitting or making any harsh defensive move.
Furthermore, while these four weeks are going by, the 10 days of practice chosen by them. During this whole period, the teams are permitted to pick a very important veterans minicamp that would last for four days. These mandatory days are always mentioned on the contract of every player. The only way to miss out on this particular mandatory meeting would be if you are a player whose contract had been completed or ended without renewal for the next season. Although, this player is allowed to attend this activity if he wants to. This activity also doesn’t allow players to make contact, just the normal drill, and some training activities are done with a little jostling.
For the rookies, it doesn’t matter if drafted or first-year free agent players are given permission to join in the extra rookie minicamp that can take up to seven weeks. During this time, contact is allowed, although none of them are done with high speed. This period has been made out to teach the rookies how the team works and the playbook before they’re some full training. The teams who have just gotten new coaches are also given time to do the extra voluntary veterans minicamp because the coach also has to understand how the team works.
A Table Showing The Different Training Camp Sites For Different Teams
| Team | Site | Location | Year |
| Arizona Cardinals | State farm stadium | Glendale, Arizona | 2013 |
| Atlanta Falcons | IBM performance arena | Flowery Branch, Georgia | 2005 |
| Baltimore Ravens | Under armor performance center | Owings mills, MD | 2012 |
| Buffalo Bills | Growney Stadium | Pitt for, New York | 2000 |
| Carolina Panthers | Gibbs Stadium | Spartanburg, SC | 1995 |
| Chicago Bears | Halas Hall | Lake Forest, Illinois | 2020 |
| Cleveland Browns | Cleveland Browns training center | Berea, OH | 2012 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | Paul Brown stadium | Cincinnati, OH | 1992 |
| Dallas Cowboys | Ford Center at the star | Frisco, Texas | 2016 |
| Denver Broncos | UCHealth training arena | Englewood, CO | 2003 |
| Detroit Lions | Detroit Lions training arena | Allen Park, MI | 2002 |
| Green bay parkers | Schneider stadium | De Pere, WI | 1958 |
| Houston Texans | Houston Methodist training center | Houston, Texas | 2002 |
| Indianapolis | Grand Park | Westfield, Indianapolis | 2018 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | Intermountain health care performance center | Henderson, Nevada | 2020 |
How Many OTAs Do The NFL Teams Do A Year?
Every team is given permission to have 10 OTA practices and minicamp practices are also added to it, just three times. The OTAs for the team players are optional, unlike the minicamp that is very mandatory. The normal Covid protocols are now being followed which has been able to limit the players that attend some of these activities.
What Are The Rules Guarding OTA?
The rules for clothing are just the normal helmet and guards that protect the players. Also, they are given knee pads and shoulder pads too. Al the NFL teams have three weeks set out OTA, the last week is to the minicamp. Any team violation of any of the OTA rules could be fined.
What Are The Roles Of The NFL Coach During The Offseason?
The head coach of an NFL team uses most of the offseason period preparing for the schedules for practice. This means that they are preparing for the next season. At the college level, the coach just tries to recruit students coming from high school.
Conclusion
OTA period is very valuable and could be of a lot of help to the player.
